Bashiran

Ms Bashiran is a 47-year-old married woman and the mother of five children. She is trying hard to fulfill their demands, including food, health, clothing, and education. She has been in the business of glove-making for the past seven years. She has 2 sewing machines which have been purchased with the financial help of Kashf foundation. Her husband is a shoe maker. Both Bashiran and her husband work hard to meet the needs of their family members. Because of her work, she is respected in her home. She is currently requesting a loan of 30,000 PKR to purchase one more sewing machine so that her daughter can also assist her in completing orders on time. Bashiran is in her 5th loan cycle and has a good repayment history. She wishes to spend part of the income on the betterment of her family members.

Additional Information

About Kashf Foundation

Kashf Foundation is one of the leading microfinance providers in Pakistan, focused on expanding financial access for poor women across the country. The organization’s economic empowerment program has grown from 913 clients in 1999 to 284,653 clients as of May 2012, with a current outstanding portfolio of US$32 million.

Kashf has trained over 227,000 clients in basic financial literacy and systemized financial education since 2010, in addition to providing training in gender justice and empowerment to over 12,500 participants since 2011. This group includes clients, their husbands and adolescent boys in their communities.

Over the past 16 years, Kashf has disbursed an estimated 2 million loans. Today, it operates in 16 districts in Punjab province and 1 district in Sindh province through a network of 157 branches. It plans to open 19 new branches to cover all four of Pakistan’s provinces.